Very interesting read that untangles whether people fear and hate AI, the people behind it, or both.

NEW: The Trump administration keeps denying and downplaying that immigration agents have been detaining Americans. It’s wrong. We’ve found more than 500 U.S. citizens have been held against their will, including handcuffed or held at gunpoint.

7/8 Our findings have important implications for many other countries in Latin America and elsewhere facing similar challenges. Violence and the state’s response to it can shape how a generation learns to view communities, political institutions, and democratic politics.

6/8 These experiences also appear to shape electoral behavior. Exposure to drug-war-era military interventions is associated with backlash against the PAN and PRI—the parties governing during much of this period—as well as more null voting and abstention.

5/8 Militarization matters too—but especially when it involves violence. Childhood exposure to military confrontations is associated with lower trust in the military, federal police, and federal government. Military presence alone produces more limited effects.

4/8 We find that childhood exposure to homicidal violence has lasting consequences. Young people who grew up in more violent places express lower trust in their communities and in federal law enforcement later in life.

3/8 We surveyed nearly 3,000 young people in urban Mexico and matched respondents to historical data on homicides, military operations, and military-cartel confrontations in the municipalities where they grew up.

2/8 Mexico’s drug war has exposed an entire generation to extraordinary levels of violence and an unprecedented militarization of public security. We ask whether these experiences during childhood leave a lasting political imprint.

Interesting that tech-heavy economies like South Korea and Israel are among the least concerned here. China would be an interesting comparison in terms of people’s “proximity” to frontier AI.

Why are Americans more skeptical of AI than those in other countries? I don't think there's a uniquely Americans strain of technophobia. My sense is that many Americans have a rational fear/loathing of the people (CEOs) who will benefit $$ in an AI future.